Ab urbe condita (English: From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as Ab urbe condita libri (Books from the Founding of the City), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. Books 1–5 cover the legendary founding of Rome (including the landing of Aeneas in Italy and the founding of the city by Romulus), the period of the kings, and the early republic down to its conquest by the Gauls in 390 BC